Do you know anything about sugar beet fibre flakes?
Posted by kathryn in Uncategorized
The next question in Q & A Thursday is one I can’t answer! Antti-Juhani has asked about sugar beet fibre flakes:
Do you have any comments about sugar beet fiber as a fiber supplement? Are there any reasons one should prefer it to, say, rye bran, or vice versa? Any good or bad points one should be aware of?
I’ve never heard of sugar beet fibre flakes and I’ve never seen them in Australian stores. So far my research is only bringing up information on horse nutrition?
Do any of you know about sugar beet flakes as a fibre source for humans?
What is Q & A Thursday?
This post is part of Q & A Thursday – a weekly burst of blogging, where you get to dictate the subject matter. Q & A Thursday is all about simple, practical answers to food and diet dilemmas sent in by readers. If you have a question you’d like answered, then either leave a comment or send me an email. For more information you can take a look at the Q & A Thursday archives.
25 October, 2007
Comments
Hi Kathryn – no I haven’t heard of this either. I wonder if it’s something like this product – http://www.hankintatukku.com/Colonic-fibre.html Although, this seems to be tablets, not flakes.
They describe their product as a food supplement containing dietary fiber from sugar beet.
That does look very similar, thanks Melanie. I still can’t find any independent information on sugar beet flakes.
The stuff I’m buying is imported by Reformi-Keskus which seems to be a branch of a drug company (!) called Kronans Droghandel Ab. The fact that it’s imported suggests to me that it’s not a local curiosity. The brand name is Fibrex.
The nutritional information reported on the package is as follows (per 100 g):
energy 260 kJ (60 kcal)
protein 9 g
carbohydrates 5,5 g (all sugars)
fat 0,5 g
(saturated fat less than 0,5 g)
dietary fiber 73 g
natrium 0,05 g
calcium 1100 mg
magnesium 180 mg
iron 25 mg
Correction, the (parent) drug company is Oriola-KD. Kronans Droghandel is a different subsidiary.
HI there Antti-Juhani, thanks for the extra information. I’ve had a look at their website and it looks like a good product. It’s much, much higher in actual fibre than most other supplements. Given the minimum recommended daily fibre intake is 30g, this could prove a useful dietary addition.
It also contains a mixture of both soluble and insoluble fibres, which is important. Some fibre supplements naturally contain compounds called phytates. While these are antioxidants, they also bind with some minerals, inhibiting their absorption. Fibrex does not contain phytates, meaning it’s minerals are more bioavailable than other fibre supplements.
I note it’s also designed for use in cooking – the website particularly mentions bread-making.
Looks like a good product, so if it’s working for you, then continue using.
I have used this product (the powder, not the flakes) in breadmaking to increase the moisture content in gluten free bread. It works very well. My gluten intolerant friend said it was the best bread he had eaten. We used it when living in Sweden, and I have not found a source here. I was recently wondering if Inulin (eg Fibresure) might do a similar thing. I would be glad of any comments.
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